He was forced to appear before a judge without any legal counsel and without knowledge of the charges against him. “Nobody [wanted to be my] defender before the court. When I said ‘I am a Christian man,’ he [a potential lawyer] immediately spat on me and abused me and mocked me. . . . I am alone between 400 [people with] terrible values in the jail, like a sheep.” He has been beaten, mocked, and subjected to sleep deprivation and sexual abuse while in prison. No Afghan lawyer will defend him and authorities denied him access to a foreign lawyer.

It’s a travesty of justice.

Jamal Khan, chief of staff at the Afghan Ministry of Justice said, ‘The sentence for a convert is death and there is no exception. They must be sentenced to death to serve as a lesson for others.’

There are tears in Afghanistan tonight. May there also be tears in Australia – as those of us who enjoy freedom of religion speak out for those who don’t.